Deafalla Haddad, a married father of three, was charged with carrying a loaded gun in a waistband holster after he was pulled over for speeding in Schiller Park in November. His attorney is challenging the charge based on the federal ruling that Illinois’ concealed carry ban is unconstitutional. (Anthony Souffle, Chicago Tribune)

Despite a federal ruling that Illinois' concealed carry ban is unconstitutional, police, prosecutors and judges alike say they are disregarding the finding and continuing to enforce the law — at least for now.

Police say they continue to arrest those who violate the state's ban on carrying a gun in public, and prosecutors continue to charge them. Backing up the authorities — but perhaps creating more confusion — a state court ruled last week that the federal decision is not binding on Illinois courts and upheld the nation's last concealed carry ban as constitutional.

The resulting contradiction has left some people who have been charged with violating the law in a kind of legal limbo. They argue that they shouldn't be held liable for violating a law that the federal ruling tossed out.

Among them is a 29-year-old Chicago father of three — a legal gun owner whose attorney said has no criminal record — who faces a minimum of one year in prison if convicted of concealing a gun in his car that he was otherwise legally allowed to own.

Gun advocates, defense attorneys and constitutional law experts say a day of reckoning is coming. The issue may ultimately be decided by both lawmakers and the state or U.S. Supreme Court.

The unusual situation arose in December, when 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner ruled that the state law against carrying a gun in public violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Posner delayed enforcement of his ruling for six months to give state lawmakers time to craft a new law that could set some restrictions on carrying guns but would pass constitutional muster. That gives the General Assembly until June 8 to approve a bill.

The current law is commonly called a concealed carry ban, though the statute generally applies whether a gun is concealed or not. Illinois is the last state in the union with such a ban.

Since the federal ruling, a number of defendants have challenged gun possession charges against them. On Friday, a state appeals court ruled against such a challenge. The decision came in the case of Tamar Moore, who was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in Chicago in 2010 after police said they caught him with a gun in public.

A Cook County court ruled against Moore, and the Illinois Appellate Court ruled the law constitutional, saying that it did not find Posner's federal ruling "persuasive." Moore, as a convicted felon, was not legally entitled to have a gun anyway, the decision noted, but it cited that as a secondary issue.

The court noted that two U.S. Supreme Court cases on which the Posner ruling was based declared a right to have guns in the home for self-defense but did not explicitly extend that right outside the home, as Posner did.

"Given the line of contrary precedent in Illinois courts on this issue," the state appellatecourt wrote, "we see no reason to adopt the (federal) decision."

Citing a 1971 Illinois Supreme Court ruling, Illinois Appellate Court Judge Jesse Reyes wrote that the federal ruling "is not binding on Illinois courts" in the absence of the U.S. Supreme Court weighing in on the matter.

Reyes also noted that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also contradicted the 7th Circuit by ruling in February that "the concealed carrying of firearms falls outside the scope of the Second Amendment's guarantee."

Still, several people who have been charged with carrying a concealed weapon in public, but who are otherwise legal firearms carriers, have sought to use the 7th Circuit ruling to have their cases dropped.

One involves Deafalla Haddad, a married father of three who was pulled over for speeding in Schiller Park in November and was charged with carrying a loaded gun in a waistband holster. He said he had the gun for protection because he had been attacked while driving in the city previously.

Though his arrest came before the federal ruling, it still would apply, said his attorney, Matt Fakhoury.

"If the law in effect at the time was unconstitutional, he can't be prosecuted for that," Fakhoury said. His request to drop the charge is awaiting a Cook County judge's decision.

In Springfield, attorney Daniel Noll filed a request to throw out charges against defendant Donnell Jackson, who was stopped by police on the street and charged with illegally possessing a gun.

But prosecutors in the central Illinois case argued that the law against guns in public still applies. The judge in the case agreed, so the charges remain standing.

More broadly, prosecutors have asserted their right and responsibility to continue enforcing the law. Paul Castiglione, director of policy in the Cook County state's attorney's office, testified at a hearing before a legislative panel in February that the federal ruling has no authority over state courts, and his office would continue prosecuting violations even after the June 8 deadline.